A wireless communications network may include a radio network distributed over a geographical area, divided into sub-geographical areas called cells, where each cell may be served by at least one transceiver. The transceiver may be referred to as a cell site or base station. In aggregate, the cells may provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area. A mobile device, during use (e.g., during a telephone call or data session), may move through one or more cells in a manner that is generally transparent to the user of the mobile device.
Cells in a wireless communications network may be differentiated based on a size of the area they serve and/or based on the equipment used to implement a cell. In contrast to a macrocell, small cells (such as picocells and femtocells) may include lower powered radio access nodes that operate in the license and/or unlicensed radio spectrum. With the increasing popularity of mobile network usage, such as mobile usage relating to mobile data traffic, small cells are becoming an increasingly important element of wireless networks.